After claiming the honor for the Suffolk unit last year, King’s Fork High School senior Alicia Jackson has just been named the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southeast Virginia Youth of the Year.

Jackson, who learned of the award during a special dinner in Norfolk on Thursday, credits her success up to having grown in confidence.

“I think I was a lot more motivated this year” because of the need to impress colleges, she added, while also citing “having more maturity and more experience at the club.”

Jackson said she joined the Boys and Girls club seven years ago. She was home-schooled up until grade nine.

“When I first started here, I wasn’t really a social person,” she said. “I didn’t really talk a lot, even to people my age.

“But the staff really helped me find my place.”

The Boys and Girls Club, whose Suffolk unit operates after school at John F. Kennedy Middle School, is a place where “kids can find a way to express themselves, be themselves and not be judged,” Jackson said.

She said her volunteer activities at the club mostly involve working with kids in kindergarten through second grade.

She said she helps them complete their homework and also helps out with different programs. With the pressure that comes with being a senior, she scaled back a little to three days a week.

“I work with them as much as I can, so that they don’t think I have turned my back on them,” she said.

The honor roll student, a member of the National Society of High School Scholars, has been accepted to attend New York’s prestigious Culinary Institute of America in the fall, regarded as the world’s premier culinary college.

“It’s also the most expensive,” Jackson reflected. “(But) I’m not going to let that stop me. They gave me several scholarships, and the scholarship from here has helped me out.”

She said she was also accepted into the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University.

“My goal is to own a restaurant in the future,” Jackson said, adding she wants to became educated in as many international cuisines as possible.

“I want to make sure I travel and do study abroad, so I can learn different aspects of cooking. I would like to incorporate as many cultures as I can into my restaurant.”

Being named Youth of the Year left her speechless at first, Jackson said. “It was really an emotional time,” she added of the dinner. “I tried to hold back my tears.

“All the hard work I have put in, and the time I have invested in the club and the time they have invested in me, led up to this big moment.”

Reggie Carter, director of the club’s Suffolk unit, said Jackson “has shown a lot of maturity and perseverance. She set a goal and went after it, and she’s been successful.”